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Flight to Tel Aviv Diverts to Saudi Arabia After Violent Incident; Interview with Rep. Mike Quigley (D-IL): Flydubai Incident Could Be a Terror Attack Attempt; Top Execs Sign Commitment to Self- Police AI Models; Trump Ads Cost Taxpayers at Least $2.5 Million; Polymarket Announces New Safeguards as Calls Grow for Regulation. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired September 30, 2026 - 08:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

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JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: According to reports, the strike caused her to lose control of the motorcycle and crash onto the road. She was rushed to the hospital where doctors treated a head injury and burns to several parts of her body.

America has a new favorite fat bear. The annual Fat Bear Week contest run by Katmai National Park in Alaska now in its 12th year celebrates bears feeding season. Bear 89, better known as Backpack, is this year's champion with about 5,000 votes.

Impressively fat. Backpack has good genes or fat genes. His mother won in 2019.

He got his nickname from riding on her back as a cub.

A brand new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking overnight, a brawl between two pilots on an Israel-bound flight triggers an international emergency. Reports of one pilot stabbing the other, sending the passenger jet plummeting tens of thousands of feet in minutes. Israeli officials investigating whether this was an attempted hijacking.

And a new report this morning that $20 million in taxpayer dollars was set aside to foot the bill for President Trump's new political ads, promoting himself and his policies. The ads now triggering widespread bipartisan pushback.

And a man trapped on the top of his car in the middle of raging waters? We're going to show you the high-risk rescue.

I'm Sara Sidner with Kate Bolduan and John Berman. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, let's get to this breaking news this morning. A Flydubai flight bound for Tel Aviv was forced to make an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia. The reasons coming out terrifying. A pilot was reportedly stabbed by another pilot in the cockpit. 160 people were on board. And reports are that some of those passengers were actually able to get inside the cockpit to help stop the attack.

Israeli fighter jets were scrambled in response to the emergency signal that was issued by the plane. And we are just now getting in some sound from a passenger who was on the flight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are here on the plane right now. We have taken control of the terrorists. We are about to land.

Anyone who hears me, we need help. We are landing in Tabuk, probably in the Saudi Arabia area, an unknown and unfamiliar area. Everyone on the plane is healthy and whole, except for the pilot.

We need help.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Wow, terrifying. You can see the blood on his face. So as this was happening, as this attack was unfolding, the aircraft dropped more than 17,000 feet in just two minutes.

As of now, I mean, you see the blood on that man's face, but there's been no formal reporting of any injuries of passengers. But we will soon find out more. Israeli authorities suspect the incident may have been an attempted terrorist attack.

The Israeli prime minister says, though, the situation is currently under control. Let's get to see this Jeremy Diamond, who's live in Jerusalem. And Jeremy, we're just hearing that now for the time.

But what are you what are you picking up?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Yes, well, passengers aboard this flight are describing a terrifying situation, screams, a plane dropping at a very, very rapid pace, as well as bloodied passengers after it appears that several passengers managed to get into that cockpit and subdue the assailant, who appears to have been, according to several of our sources, to have been the copilot of this flight. So what we're understanding so far, the picture that is building and again, it is still early. So some of these details may change.

But it appears that the copilot of this flight stabbed the captain inside that cockpit. We don't know how, but somehow the cockpit door was able to be opened. Passengers were able to rush in and help subdue that copilot, who was apparently the attacker, In this case.

We have some new images showing passengers, at least one passenger on board with blood on his shirt. I've also seen additional video that we're still trying to confirm and clear that appears to show the two pilots bloodied as well. And in fact, Saudi authorities have now confirmed that both the pilot and the copilot were injured and have been taken to hospital in Saudi Arabia.

Again, this was a terrifying situation for the passengers on board as this plane dropped more than 17,000 feet in just two minutes. The plane ultimately landing safely in Saudi Arabia.

[08:05:00]

We don't yet know who was able to land that plane, whether or not there were other pilots perhaps who were on board this flight. So much more still being investigated and needs to be learned, including, of course, the potential motives of this copilot, if he is indeed confirmed to have been the attacker. But indeed, two Israeli officials and an additional Israeli source are telling me and my colleague Tal Shalev that this is being investigated as an attempted terrorist attack at this stage.

The Israeli prime minister has been briefed and has been in security consultations all day. Now the question is, how will those Israeli passengers get back to Israel? Right now they are in Saudi Arabia, a country with which Israel does not have any formal diplomatic relations.

Questions as to whether or not Saudi Arabia will allow an Israeli plane to land there for the first time ever to be able to pick up these passengers, that still remains unclear -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: So much unclear, but what these images emerging are terrifying. Jeremy, thank you so much. Jeremy's doing some great reporting on this.

I really appreciate it -- John.

BERMAN: All right, with us now is Congressman Mike Quigley, a Democrat from Illinois. He's on the House Intelligence Committee. Congressman, good to see you.

Have you been briefed yet on this incident?

REP. MIKE QUIGLEY (D-IL): No, as it happened overnight, that wasn't possible. I expect that we'll get some sort of briefing and the ability to learn something. I'm hoping that the Israeli government shares everything they can with the U.S. and that we're able to get some sort of understanding of the basics. Obviously, a lot more to learn of a terrifying incident that raises any number of concerns. You can have the best airport security in the world, but how do you get into the minds of those controlling the plane? So I don't want to jump to any conclusions until we know definitively, if we can, the motive for this attack.

But a lot of questions. How did the passengers get into what was supposed to be a blocked cockpit? How did the weapon get into the cockpit?

I mean, there is some screening, obviously, of the crew coming in. Was it lacking? What took place to allow this to occur? BERMAN: What, if any, intelligence warnings or specific concerns have there been in that region? I know that might be a loaded question, given the fact that there's a war, if not several wars raging in that area. But anything that had tipped anyone off to the idea of a possible terror incident?

QUIGLEY: Look, something like this, nothing so specific would be given to us. It would be very, very hard to determine. Again, something a pilot decides in their head, is there a conspiracy?

It would be very difficult to discern. Obviously, with the escalating war beyond Iran to many fronts, there are extraordinary security concerns throughout the region. When this war began, I was concerned with Iran's extraordinary capabilities worldwide of terrorist activities through themselves and through others.

So it's a very dangerous location. But I don't think that the Middle East is isolated. I think there are threats throughout the world.

BERMAN: Shifting gears, if I can, the president had leaders from artificial intelligence, even though he doesn't want to call it artificial intelligence, at the White House yesterday, and they signed a document to self-police themselves regarding all the safety concerns about AI maybe advancing more quickly than humans can control. Well, the president was asked whether this would be legally binding. He said it would be morally binding.

Is that enough? And how much do you trust these businesses to self- police themselves?

QUIGLEY: Well, first, even if we did trust them completely, what we've learned from whistleblowers and acknowledgments from these AI tech titans is that these systems went rogue, and they didn't learn about that immediately. These are systems that went outside their system, hacked into others, have the capacity as time goes on to be super hackers, act in a rogue way, in a destructive way. So I think you need third party investigators, even if you were to trust the AI folks.

And at this point in time, Congress has to act. My concern is, as you suggested, that this is a president who has said that the threats of AI are a hoax. Even Chinese President Xi has said that AI has to be controlled by people, not its own systems.

So no, I don't have faith that that's something that we rely upon tech titans whose profits are elsewhere.

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It simply won't be enough.

BERMAN: Congressman, the White House has been running ads paid for by the taxpayers -- or paid for by the U.S. government -- that seem to be promoting the president of the United States in political terms here. We're putting one up on the screen right now. It looks and smells a little bit like a political ad paid for by the U.S. government, though. What recourse do you have? I've heard Democrats certainly upset about this, even some Republicans, too. But can you do anything about it or are you going to do anything about it?

QUIGLEY: Well, look, we're certainly going to try to do something about it, but this is an action governed by the federal government. So herein lies the problem with the Trump administration. He uses the systems of government to protect himself and go after his enemies.

So I believe this is a violation of the law, and he should be punished for this, held accountable for it. He should have to pay for this, or his political campaign should because clearly, it's a political advertisement. It is the ethics of Politics 101 that you don't use government money for political campaigning.

This is the most overt example of breaking that rule that I've witnessed in all my time in this business.

BERMAN: Congressman Mike Quigley from Illinois, thanks for being with us this morning -- Sara.

SIDNER: All right, thank you, John. New details this morning on the disturbing gang rape investigation out of Cornell University. We are now learning more about comments Jane Doe made to police at the time of the alleged assault.

Plus, a mother is accused of leaving her four underage children home alone while she went on a cruise. The youngest child just two months old. That story and more ahead.

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SIDNER: New CNN reporting this morning on President Trump's TV ads paid for by you, the taxpayer. They're airing just weeks before the midterms. They look like campaign ads, and this one is indeed repurposed from his 2024 run, except now it ends with a disclaimer paid for by the U.S. government.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And we will liberate America from these villains once and for all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: Now, CNN is learning more about how much this is costing and where the money is coming from. Democrats are calling it, quote, a shockingly corrupt misuse of taxpayer dollars.

CNN's Betsy Klein is live this morning at the White House with this new reporting. Where is this money coming from and how much is earmarked to be spent on these?

BETSY KLEIN, SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, Sara, we have been tracking these pro-Trump so-called public service announcements since they began airing. As you mentioned, they feature imagery of President Trump, as well as the words paid for by the U.S. government on the screen at the end. Now, watchdog groups say that they are illegal, and we are learning that these taxpayer dollars were actually allocated for the purposes of immigration enforcement.

And we should note that this is a little bit murky because public service announcements are not subject to the same types of rules and regulations that traditional political campaign ads are about public disclosure. But we have learned that $20 million have been allocated in taxpayer money for these ads. And according to the ad tracking group Ad Impact, they say that so far, $2.5 million have been spent on airing these ads.

Now, that money is coming from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, according to two sources familiar with the matter. It was allocated earlier this month by the White House Office of Management and Budget for what they referred to as, quote, OBBBA commemorative events. That, of course, refers to the president's One Big Beautiful Bill Act that was passed last year that includes money for immigration enforcement.

Now, we are hearing concerns on both sides of the aisle, as well as from watchdog groups. And one of those groups, Public Citizen, filed a complaint yesterday with the Federal Communications Commission and Federal Trade Commission. I want to read to you a little bit from that.

They say quote, "At least three campaign ads, paid for by taxpayer dollars, appear to violate the federal law against using taxpayer funds to finance propaganda and related provisions of the appropriations laws, as well as the Hatch Act." They go on to say, "None of these three ads meet the standard of a public service announcement. They do not refer to any specific governmental program, and they do not serve the purpose of informing the public about any specific governmental program."

Now, it's not clear at this point whether any of these groups have the standing for a lawsuit, but some experts we've talked to say that the legislative branch, Congress, needs to hold the executive branch accountable here. But so far, the Republican-controlled House and Senate have yet to act -- Sara.

SIDNER: Not something they probably want to be talking about right before the midterms, Betsy Klein. Thank you so much. I do appreciate it -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: So, prediction site Polymarket is pushing out new safeguards they say will now help prevent users from getting addicted to their platforms. How?

And new video is also just in of a mother rushing to flag down officers to help save her choking baby. We've got more on this coming.

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BOLDUAN: All right, so new this morning, the prediction site Polymarket is rolling out some new sportsbook style consumer protections and anti-addiction safeguards after growing calls to rein in this booming industry. Platforms like Polymarket and Kalshi have become hugely popular in the past year, allowing users to wager on, well, anything and everything. Sports, culture, award shows, weather.

Yes, all. In lawsuits across the country, though, states are accusing the sites of being illegal gambling operations that prey on young people, which the companies deny. CNN's Marshall Cohen has much more on this.

What is Polymarket doing here or saying they're doing now?

MARSHALL COHEN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Well, Kate, like you said, these companies are blowing up. They are more popular than ever. But a lot of people think that the rules and the regulations just haven't kept pace.

So companies are taking steps on their own to try to address some of these concerns. Polymarket says the new tools they're rolling out today will protect consumers and combat addiction. Things like deposit limits, so you can slow down how much money you're putting on the app and hopefully slow down how much money you're losing on the app.

There's also something called self-exclusion, which means if you think you have a problem and want to ban yourself from the platform, you can now do that for a year or even forever. And also, Polymarket is announcing a partnership with a leading health care provider to provide resources to people that think they might need for a year or even forever. And also, Polymarket is announcing a partnership with a leading health care provider to provide resources to people that think they might need counseling or therapy for addiction.

And they're working with a pretty respected group that specializes in gambling addiction. I spoke earlier this week with the head of safety at Polymarket, Malea Otranto. She told me about these new safeguards.

Take a listen to what she had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MALEA OTRANTO, GLOBAL HEAD OF TRUST AND SAFETY, POLYMARKET: We're giving people more power and control of how they want to leverage the platform. I think right now the number one priority is just getting this out, giving it into the hands of the millions of people that leverage and use us and trust us to protect them and keep them safe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COHEN: You know, Kate, a lot of people don't actually realize that this technically isn't gambling. Under the current law, companies like these are treated like financial markets, like soybean futures or oil futures. And that means they're regulated by the federal government.

And the Trump administration is not requiring these companies to take any of these steps. They are doing it on a voluntary basis, which has attracted the attention of a lot of states that have said it's just not enough. Forty four states across the country have been arguing in court that they think this is gambling, plain and simple.

They want to regulate it like gambling. And one of the latest states to sue Polymarket right here, New York, just last week, Leticia James, the attorney general, filed a lawsuit to shut down Polymarket. They counter sued her and it's in the courts now.

BOLDUAN: Yes, I mean, 44 states, though, there is quite a debate over this going on right now. Marshall, great to see you. Thanks for being here -- John.

BERMAN: Marshall in person. All right, we're standing by for a brand new report on inflation this morning. Those numbers coming shortly.

And then a driver rescued from surging floodwaters just as they begin to engulf his car.

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